Stunned is hardly the word for it. The provincial agency known as Metrolinx has decided that the Eglinton Crosstown LRT will be built, maintained and operated by a private agency and not the TTC. For the first time in 90 years the city will not have control of a transit line inside its borders. We have known for many months that there has been a nasty little behind-the-scenes struggle about just who will make the decisions for the LRT construction. But whoever thought that Queen’s Park would tell Canada’s largest City to just buzz off. Liberals to TO: Drop Dead. This is the town that was given the right to function practically as a separate province under the City of Toronto Act, passed by the Liberals. Too much infighting at City Hall? Past TTC administrations have slipped the leash in a way that brought disaster. Is this the result of the TTC’s out-of-control and quite mad boondoggle on St. Clair Avenue a couple of years ago? Next: A naming contest for the LRT, We can see MUD emblazoned on the new LRT cars. (McGuinty Underground. Department). Or, GLT (Get Lost Toronto). Send your suggestions.
Beer Store opens Monday in the Leaside Village
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The new Beer Store (Brewers Retail) will open next Monday in Leaside Village at Laird Drive and Esandar Road The store is a plus for Leaside village but a minus for East York Town Centre on Overlea Blvd. which will see the present Beer Store there close. The Town Centre is struggling for tenants and its owners, Morguard Investments, must be placing a lot of hope in the Target store which is now under renovation in the old Zeller’s location. Meanwhile, correspondent Rudy L. has posted some pictures of beer being unloaded over at Leaside Village.
She kicks Muslim cleric who warned “cover up”
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Bloomberg News is reporting that an Iranian woman apparently beat up a Muslim cleric because he told her to cover up. The story is said to come from the cleric, a man named Hojatoleslam Ali Beheshti who claimed he was knocked down and kicked by the woman after he told her twice to cover up. After the first warning he says she told him to cover his eyes instead. When he persisted, she attacked him, he said.
Slow down on law to pre-pay for gasoline
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The death of gas station attendant Jayesh Prajapati Saturday night is a very unfortunate event. The well-intentioned man was run down while trying to stop a gasoline thief from leaving without paying. But the furious outburst from MPP Mike Colle (Eglinton-Lawrence) to create new legislation should be handled cautiously by the government. Happily, Labour Minister Linda Jeffrey seems inclined to do just that. This sad case involves three issues. First, the government has got to get to the bottom of whether petroleum companies are routinely deducting the losses from theft from the pay of their employees. A new law making the public pay for gasoline in advance won’t help these workers if their employers are so mean and dishonest that they steal from their employees This is already illegal and the ministry must make it clear to oil firms they must comply. Second, employees must be trained to understand that a life is more important than a tank of gas. The banks have succeeded in this regard. No amount of money is worth the life of a teller. Finally, making people pay for gasoline in advance is not popular with the oil companies nor much of the public. People like the flexibility of paying after making their choice. These days that might include groceries. Mr. Colle should cool off and slow down.
The high cost of connecting to the iPhone 5
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You have to wonder how much ill-will Apple has bought with its decision to create an entirely new connector for the iPhone 5. Many commentators say the new connector leads to a mushrooming bill if you want to buy accessories for the IPhone. Of course, if you run the world, who cares about ill-will. ZD Net
Bayview firms commit to Bayview Buckets
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The response to the adopt-a-tree program known as Bayview Buckets has had a very solid response from merchants. The program applies to the west side of Bayview between Hillsdale Ave. and Davisville Ave. Businesses commit to make sure the street trees get at least three buckets of water a week. Here are the public spirited people giving a hand: Alex Farm • The Big Stretch Yoga Centre • BMO Financial Group • Bonnie Byford Real Estate Ltd. Brokerage • Epi Breads • Hollywood Gelato • Horticultural Design Inc. • Karmasutra Restaurant & Wine Bar • L’Avenue Bistro • Leaside Animal Clinic • McSorleys’s Wonderful Saloon & Grill • Originals Bar • Patisserie La Cigogne • RBC Royal Bank • Stainton, Murray and Lam Barristers, Solicitors & Notaries • Dr. Stephen Simpson DDS • Teaopia • Tribute Communities • valu-mart • Verdi Restaurant • Vizio Eyewear and Sunglasses • California Roll • Lemon Grass • Bagel House • Baskin Robbins
FLASH FROM THE PAST: Alleve commercial shot on Astor Ave.
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Take moment to whiz back to 2012 when this was the scnee on Astor Avenue. Soft Citizen Productions is at work in Leaside again doing a commercial for Alleve. This time they’re at 8 Astor Avenue. Actually, the trucks and props and barbecue (inset) are all over the place, so we guess the neighbors are onside. The snapshots above show No 8 with artificial light streaming through the hallway window. They were shooting inside. Outside, the suitably named fictitious delivery company called Overnight Express is standing by. Overnight Express — Overnight Relief, we’re sure you get it. All of this during rush hour Wednesday. Bessborough Studio takes an Alleve.
Write Impressions freshens up, Smile closes
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They were freshening up the front of Write Impressions today at the corner of South Bayview and Millwod Rd. It’s been a few years now and the owners clearly felt it was time for a coat of paint. Looks good. Next door at Smile, the little Bell cellular franchisee, things haven’t been going so well. Yesterday we noted things coming out of the shop and today it’s quiet at Smile. Sorry to see them leave.
Truck bed raised, slamming into QEW bridge
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A woman has been seriously injured in a crash that began with the collision of a extended dump truck (similar the one inset ) slamming into the Lundy’s Lane overpass on the QEW near Welland. The box on the truck was apparently raised as the driver took his truck under the bridge. There’s no explanation as to why the bed was raised. A woman following behind the dump truck drove into the box.
“Muslim Rage” article in Time evokes ridicule
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Fairly predictable reaction to media stories about so-called Muslim Rage. That new standard for what people think, the online commentator, says it’s silly. One Tweet to Time magazine said: Memo to those few violent MidEast protesters, this is how you fight Islamophobia. You make fun of it. #MuslimRage. Another said: When I wear a white hijab to a TV interview with a white backdrop. #floatingHead #MuslimRage CNN
All about families, households and status 2011
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Anne Milan, a sociologist with Statiastics Canada, presents a national overview of families, households and marital status data, 2011 Census. The Census was released today and has lots of interesting stuff. There are 9,389,700 “census families” consisting of married or common-law couples, or single parents in 2011, Same-sex marriage nearly tripled between 2006 and 2011 as same-sex couples grew by 42.4 per cent. Same-sex common-law couples grew 15 per cent, compared with 13.8 per cent for opposite-sex common-law couples. Common-law couples increased 13.9 per cent between 2006 and 2011, compared with 3.1 per cent for married couples over the same time period. Single fathers grew by 16.2 per cent, compared with six per cent for single mothers, as lone-parent families grew eight per cent since 2006. Single mothers still comprise 80 per cent of single-parent families. Stepfamilies, counted for the first time in 2011, comprised 12.6 per cent of Canada’s 3.7 million couples with children. Nearly 60 per cent were “simple” stepfamilies — families in which the children are the biological or adopted offspring of only one parent. The number of couples without children at home (44.5 per cent) continued to outpace those couples with kids living at home (39.2 per cent).
79-year-old guy sprints up timber pole
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Competitors sprint up 25 metre poles at the world pole climbing championships in Warwickshire, England. . Report by Katie Lamborn of ITN.